Scholarly Articles

The Evolution of AI Characters in Children’s Literature AI characters are evolving from the traditional ‘Pinocchio paradigm’ toward more autonomous identities; Rachel Hamilton and Christopher Piper explore this journey.

Rachel Hamilton, Christopher Piper (Author)

03.07.2025
The Child’s Experience of Relatives with Mental Health Problems: How Can Middle Grade Authors Combat Stigma? Hannah Durkan investigates how authors can compassionately portray characters with mental health problems.

Hannah Durkan (Author)

03.07.2025
The Trickster Figure in Queer YA: A Case Study of Margaret Owen’s Little Thieves The emerging space of queer Young Adult literature is a vibrant storytelling landscape for trickster characters and trickster tales, argues Alex Henderson.

Dr Alex Henderson (Author)

03.07.2025
A Guide to Responsible Scaring: What are the Limitations of Horror in Young Adult Fiction? Through a close reading of recent Young Adult horror novels Dan Hunt explores the building blocks of the Young Adult horror genre.

Dan Hunt (Author)

03.07.2025
Inventing the Perfect Crush: Arguing for Middle-Grade Narratives with Aromantic Leads Varsha Varghese considers the issues that arise when writing Indian LGBTQ+ Middle Grade fiction.

Varsha Varghese (Author)

03.07.2025
A Practice-Based Research Approach to Selecting Point of View in a Young Adult Fantasy Fiction Novel Julia OConnor presents a practice-based research approach to selecting point of view for a Young Adult fantasy novel.

Julia OConnor (Author)

03.07.2025
Queering the Short Story Cycle for Young Adult Fiction Authors seeking to represent a diverse range of queer identities have adopted the short story cycle, Chloe Cannell explains why.

Dr Chloe Cannell (Author)

03.07.2025
Writing Generative Black Anger in Young Adult Historical Fiction Laura E. Jacquemond examines how writers of Black characters in YA historical fiction portray their protagonists, channeling their anger to positive ends in dangerous situations.

Laura E. Jacquemond (Author)

03.07.2025
Navigating Disability in Children’s Publishing: Insights from Disabled Authors The authors present the findings of a study that explored the experiences of six disabled children’s writers in the publishing industry.

Daniela Rozental, Dr Joanna Nadin (Author)

03.07.2025
Beyond the Binary: Shapeshifting and Nonbinary Identity in Middle-Grade Speculative Fiction Drawing on posthumanist and queer perspectives, Candice Lemon-Scott argues that the shapeshifter can disrupt binary gender norms.

Dr Candice Lemon-Scott (Author)

03.07.2025
A Call to Mind: How are MG Authors Challenging the Stigmatisation of Mental Health? Elaine Lambert asks how Middle Grade fiction can encourage openness around mental health problems.

Elaine Lambert (Author)

24.05.2025
How Do Authors Negotiate Contemporary Notions of Gender and Historical Accuracy When Creating Female Characters in Middle Grade Historical Fiction? Anna Trusty considers how notions of gender have been interpreted in children’s historical fiction.

Anna Trusty (Author)

24.05.2025
Learning Curve: The University-Set Novel Made Palatable, and Appropriate, for Young Adult Readers Caitlin Clements makes the case for the university setting in YA literature, done appropriately for young readers.

Caitlin Clements (Author)

24.05.2025
When the Plot Thickens: Writing the Textured Children’s Novel in an Era of Corporate Taste Noah Weisz illuminates techniques writers can use to thicken their stories’ textures and build more impactful novels without falling afoul of industry constraints.

Noah Weisz (Author)

24.05.2025
“A Balance Between the Real and the Fictive”: Writing Nuanced Queer Representation in Young Adult Historical Fiction Julia Dielmann identifies potential narrative strategies for writing queer historical fiction and considers their application in her work.

Julia Dielmann (Author)

24.05.2025
Representing “Otherness”: Animals in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Hundred and One Dalmatians, and Beyond Author Piu DasGupta considers the issue of the alterity (or “otherness”) of animals as a category, in classic fiction and in her own writing.

Piu DasGupta (Author)

24.05.2025
Writing Hopeful Climate Fiction for Middle Grade Readers Many children suffer from climate anxiety. Rupert Barrington asks, how can children’s fiction help them?

Rupert Barrington (Author)

24.05.2025
Under the Hood of the Verse Novel: A Consideration of Variation in Form and Technique in the Contemporary Verse Novel for Young Adults Verse novelist Tia Fisher looks broadly at the development of the form, analysing what constitutes a verse novel and why it isn’t just ‘chopped up prose’.

Tia Fisher (Author)

15.12.2023
Why is it Important to Cover Suicide Responsibly in Young Adult Fiction and How Can This be Achieved? Using the World Health Organisation’s 'Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals', Janette Taylor looks at how suicide can be covered in a constructive and responsible way by YA authors.

Janette Taylor (Author)

26.04.2023
Reimagining “Beauty”: Young Adult Fairytale Retellings in Perpetuation of & Resistance to Patriarchy This article utilises an intersectional, feminist lens to analyse the narrative and characterisation choices made by the authors of several different iterations the fairytale ‘Beauty and the Beast'.

Zoe Marriott (Author)

26.04.2023
Travelling Through Time on My Quest to be a Children’s Author Charlotte Teeple-Salas explores why she is compelled to write time-slip stories, and whether their appeal in the publishing industry is a passing trend, cyclical or enduring.

Charlotte Teeple-Salas (Author)

26.04.2023
Talking Tigers: Concepts of Representational Ethics Applied to Non-Human Characters in Writing Children’s Fiction Mimi Thebo looks at the tradition of animal characters in children’s fiction and argues that the destruction of animal habitats and the reduction of non-human species intersect with colonial practice.

Dr Mimi Thebo (Author)

26.04.2023
Don’t Look Back In Anger: The Mythic World-building of Melinda Salisbury’s Her Dark Wings Through a close reading of 'Her Dark Wings' by Melinda Salisbury and Ash Bond’s own work-in-progress this article examines the use of mythology as a megatext.

Ash Bond (Author)

26.04.2023
The Niagara Effect: Reimagining Emotional Intensity in Young Adult Writing YA authors frequently employ an expressive first-person voice for “immediacy”. However, in this article, Weisz argues that overtly emotional first-person voices can sometimes actually prevent, rather than enable, emotional intensity.

Noah Weisz (Author)

26.04.2023
More than Just a Thing with Feathers: The Importance of Hope in Middle Grade Fiction This article unpacks our understanding of hope – what it is and what it isn’t – and how it informs the way we write for a Middle Grade audience.

Carley Lee (Author)

26.04.2023

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